Quality of Life helping people enroll for health insurance

Saturday

Jan 25, 2014 at 10:59 PMJan 25, 2014 at 11:01 PM

Quality of Life Health Services has helped about 500 residents register with healthcare.gov for insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and hopes to enroll three times that many more by the March 31 deadline.

BY ANDY POWELLTimes Staff Writer

Quality of Life Health Services has helped about 500 residents register with healthcare.gov for insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, and hopes to enroll three times that many more by the March 31 deadline.Amelia Wofford, Quality of Life’s planning and development officer, said last week that the agency has eight certified application counselors who will help guide individuals through the process, which she said takes about 45 minutes now that problems with the website have been resolved. Make an appointment by calling 256-492-0131, ext. 3807.Wofford said Quality of Life, which serves Etowah and 11 other counties, received a $438,000 grant to assist residents in registering or looking at various options.A counselor is available every day at the agency’s main site, 1411 Piedmont Cutoff, to help with registration, and counselors rotate at the other locations.Wofford said appointments can be made at all locations. A list is available at www.qolhs.org.Applicants must bring proof of income, such as a W-2 form or pay stub, and proper identification when registering.“We would like to sign up about 1,500 more before it (the website) shuts down,” Wofford said. “But we’ve got to get people over to our counselors with all their information and do all the followups that are necessary to get everything put into the system, because we want to take full advantage of the open enrollment period.”She said counselors might have to talk to as many as 3,500 people to get another 1,500 enrolled.“We want to sit down with people and give them their options, so they will know what to do,” Wofford said.Most of those who have signed up did not have health insurance, Wofford said, but individuals with health care coverage should still visit the website to compare the options available. Wofford said Quality of Life has assisted more than 2,300 people in looking at healthcare.gov since the website opened for registrations Oct. 1.They used mail to help people enroll before glitches in the website were fixed. Now, however, individuals can go through the application process step by step online, compare plans and make decisions about the coverage they want.“This just resolves everything for them right on the spot,” Wofford said. “Since the website became fully operational, the number of individuals and families who have actually completed the insurance enrollment through the assistance of a certified application counselor has increased by over 50 percent.” Under the Affordable Care Act, uninsured individuals can purchase insurance coverage that encompasses 10 benefits including outpatient care, emergency care, hospitalization, maternity care, mental health and substance abuse treatment, prescription drugs, rehabilitation services and devices, laboratory services, prevention and wellness services and pediatric services, including dental and vision coverage. Wofford said the coverage packages available to Alabama residents consist of Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans designed to give individuals without insurance the greatest opportunity to increase access to health care. Within each plan, there are multiple levels of coverage, with various co-pay amounts and deductibles. Groups interested in having a speaker to talk about Enroll Alabama, a nonpartisan effort to maximize the number of uninsured Alabamians who enroll for health coverage, can contact Michelle Funderburg at 256-492-0131.Quality of Life Health Services is a network of 21 community health centers located in Northeast Alabama.

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